Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10

by Randolph Lalonde

  “Between figuring out the D-Drive, working with me and Agameg on studying the Lorander database, and building the new shield assembly in the nose section, even I barely see her right now.”

  “Make sure she gets some sleep in there somewhere,” Frost said. “I’ve heard there’s a betting pool on the command deck, waiting to mark the first time you two spend the night in your quarters.”

  “Classy,” Jake said, amused and a little irked at the same time. “The time we can spend together is good, but it’s almost all work. Converting this ship looked good in the design database, but we’re already seeing problems. That, combined with a crew that has a lot to learn has us both working harder than we have in a long –”

  “Citirc, get down from there!” Frost said, looking up over Jake’s shoulder.

  The gravity inside the large chamber deactivated as Jake turned around to look. A maintenance worker, Citirc, was sealed in his suit high above, beside a two by two metre access hatch door with the emergency control in hand. Jake got a hand on the nearest railing as Citirc shouted, “For the Order!” and pulled the lever, opening the inner and outer hatch doors at the same time. Jake caught a glimpse of someone within the outer airlock who timed the opening of their door with the inner door before they were pushed out into space. The hood of his vacsuit activated to protect him from the sudden pressure change.

  Citirc was second to get pushed out with the atmosphere inside the chamber, and he was followed by two maintenance workers who were busy just below.

  Frost had an arm wrapped around a railing and his hand clenched on Jake’s forearm. Their suits affixed to every surface they touched, so they were steady. One of Frost’s crewmembers drifted towards the open hatch from far below, pin wheeling through the empty space.

  Without thinking, Jake fired an emergency line from his wrist, missing them, but the act reminded the gunnery crewmember that he had his own emergency safety line, and he hurriedly fired it, saving himself from a quick exit. Jake let the misfired line go and fired another one at the hatch controls above, then gently pulled his way up. The chamber was emptied of atmosphere, so he moved through calm weightlessness. The wall of the Dimension Drive’s transit tunnel was clearly visible through the open inner and outer doors, and Jake shuddered at the fate that the four people who were just pulled out must have suffered. Two conspirators to operate the airlock the way they did, for a sudden opening, and two victims who didn’t get to safety in time. A glance at his tactical overview inside his headpiece verified that everyone who was pushed through the airlock except for one was already dead.

  “Farrah! Fire your line at the ship!” Jake said over his communicator, leaning as far as he dared into the open airlock.

  “I can’t turn! My suit’s emergency thrusters aren’t working!” she replied as she slowly drifted through space above the open hatch.

  Jake fired a line after her, Frost’s flicked out at her at the same time. His missed, but Frost’s caught her leg as Farrah’s arm made contact with the side of the dimension tunnel wall. Her scream tore through Jake, and as more of her body made contact with the twisted space it began to stretch. The sound she made as Farrah was ripped length wise was inhuman, then it stopped abruptly as her form passed into the distorted space and was finally destroyed.

  Jake released his line and caught Frost’s arm as it was pulled towards the door, releasing his. The line followed Farrah’s path through the wall of the dimension tunnel. He closed the outer hatch, then moved through the inner hatch and let Frost close that one. “Get to a safe place, I’m restoring gravity,” Frost said quietly.

  Jake set his feet down on the walkway under the hatch, the four crewmembers left inside the chamber did the same, and Frost activated the gravity. “I’m going to find the rest of the spies,” Jake said. “This won’t happen again.”

  “Twisted arseholes!” Frost shouted, punching the bulkhead. “It’s a good thing the cowards spaced themselves, or I’d make the time to show them what I think of their god damned Order!”

  “I know,” Jake said. “You’ll have your chance. These two killed themselves to try to get us and protect whoever they’re working with. I’ll make sure you get a few minutes with the next one we find.”

  Frost straightened up and took a deep breath. “I would have never suspected Citirc would be an Order spy, looked like he was working with Shelly Turnbull.”

  “This was sloppy, desperate.”

  “They were trying to kill you, I’m sure Jer Citirc could have killed me five times over while he was on my team, but I’m still standing. The first chance he and Turnbull got to space you, they took their shot.”

  “Would have been easier to shoot me from behind, maybe make a weapon out of a cutting tool.”

  “Bah!” Frost said. “With the number of people who have tried to blast you and failed, the odds of you getting spaced are higher. Farrah Nillin and Toby Myers are a big loss. Good people, and talented. It’ll be felt by the team.”

  Jake knew that was only part of the truth. Frost would take this personally, he’d carry it with him for months, maybe years. “We have to keep this quiet for now. No one finds out there was an attempt on my life, or that we lost people. We need to catch a few of these spies before they have a chance to kill themselves.”

  “How are you going to dig them out? I didn’t notice anything strange about these two – hell, they were even good at their jobs – I’ve spent the last week right beside them.”

  “We’ll find a way,” Jake said. “Speaking of which, you’re going to have to re-scan everything they worked on or even stood next to.”

  “It’s going to take some time,” Frost said, nodding.

  “Take it. I’d rather have a delay than a gun that’s ready to blow the first time we fire it.”

  “I wish our wonder-kid the Engineering Chief were here. I’ll have to settle for everyone he’s been using on his team for the last few months, hope Ayan can let some of them go for a while.”

  “I’ll make it happen,” Jake replied.

  Chapter 9

  The Cost Of Failure

  “We’ve been able to hide for two weeks,” the woman said into her recorder. There was barely any light around her to capture a holographic image, but all the Order of Eden Officers that had been brought together to celebrate their elevation in rank could see her clearly enough. She was filthy, but even through the grime cuts and scrapes were visible. “I don’t know if anyone can receive this, the Edxi have been jamming us from orbit since they landed their broods. If someone other than the Order sees this, know that there are millions of humans alive on Roneran, and we are all being hunted. The group I managed to find discovered that I was an Order officer, and being sent here was my punishment for breaking their rules. They attacked me, I almost didn’t make it out alive. If you are from a group who is fighting the Order of Eden, and you have a few good ships, I plead with you to save them. Do not track this signal to its origin, my position is about to be overrun and I’m out of ammunition. Just save as many civilians on Roneran as you can, they thought they joined the Order of Eden, and they did for a time, that’s true. We put them to work on a project to make this world ready for an Edxian brood, and when they were finished we took the cream of the crop into the service proper then left the rest behind. I know, I was an intake officer.”

  The sounds of something scraping and bashing metal interrupted her, and she tried to make herself even smaller in the compartment she was hiding in. “The broods eat the easiest prey they can find,” she said. “That’s humans, I don’t know how long the people of Roneran will last, help them, but watch out for the Edxian blockade. If you are a member of the Order, obey the rules. I don’t know if the immortality or paradise promises are real, but the punishment is worse than you can imagine. If I knew, I would have tried to run, but that doesn’t work either. They’re hiring bounty hunters by the hundreds and training their own to hunt deserters. Run if you can, but serve or –” The scrape
s at the hatch were replaced with the screech of tearing metal, and the Officer on screen dropped the recorder so she could brandish a pipe with a jagged end.

  Clark Patterson watched as the newly minted Lieutenants flinched and gasped at the sight of the woman being overwhelmed by several young Edxi. They were broodlings, still animals in their thinking, and their hunger drove them to tear pieces of her off with their claws and their razor sharp rasping jaws.

  Her best attempts at beating them off only worked to offer hands, arms and feet for them to rip flesh from. The screams lasted for nearly two minutes, and the Overlord watched passively. This was what millions of humans suffered through, they were all ages, male, female, alone and in families. It was the price the Edxi leadership demanded to stay their encroachment. The brood worlds were where their young would strengthen as hunters, grow into their intelligence over decades, and eventually be picked up by their families once they began to show signs of higher intelligence.

  The playback ended and the lights in the square shaped auditorium began to brighten. “That is the ultimate punishment for disobedience,” the Overlord said from the rear.

  Some of the Lieutenants were weeping, others looked angry, but most of them looked shocked. Their seats turned to face him. “Now you all know for certain, this is what happens to the worlds we have spent a great deal of resources cleaning, enriching, and populating with the millions of pledges that are not fit to serve. The Order of Eden does not have prisons, we have nurseries for Edxi, we have our own hells. No one has ever made it off of one of those worlds, the space around them are the only areas where the Edxi are allowed to roam freely in our galaxy, and they abide by that agreement.” If there was an Issyrian in the audience, they would immediately know that he was lying. There were signs that the Edxi were exploring beyond the agreed upon boundaries, that some had even made it through the Iron Head Nebula. The Warlord encountered more than one scout ship, a problem that could come back to haunt him. He pressed on. “The example you’ve seen today is extreme. Lieutenant Dwerren made a decision that destroyed an Edxi ship and resulted in the death of several hundred Order of Eden servicemen and women. The only way to placate the Edxi was to see that she was relocated to a brood planet. We have this footage because they were monitoring her at all times. For some reason she logged her journey for weeks after finding a simple holographic recorder and transmitter. It would be beneficial for all of you to watch her struggle.”

  One of the Lieutenants to his right stood slowly. “Pardon me, Overlord,” she said, her tone guarded and careful. “Many of us were unaware of brood worlds, we thought those were being prepared as future sites for new cities, utopian cities. Reward cities. I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering if any of those exist at all.”

  “Thank you, please be seated,” Admiral Lodds said, nodding at the Lieutenant.

  “I will answer your question,” the Overlord said. “To understand the Edxi, you must have a basic comprehension of their honour code. They demand social balance at all times. They are arranged in numerous castes, and it is the lifelong task of the lower castes to provide everything the higher castes require of them. Honour demands that the higher castes take what their underlings can provide, and that the lower castes give. If there is an economic system in Edxi society, that is it. There are many rules in this caste system, even one that pertains to humans. If an upper caste member is insulted, the magnitude of the insult is multiplied by the social difference between them and the person providing insult. In the caste system, humans are regarded as being of the lowest caste, outsiders without the power to defend themselves. We have no chitin armour, we are born with no teeth or natural weapons, and our skin is soft. To them, we resemble a purono-po, a pale, fleshy, spineless grub that can measure up to one and a half metres long, one-metre-wide and weigh as much as twenty-eight kilograms. They’re a dietary staple to the lower castes. So, when humans raided the first brood world in our galaxy and began to experiment on the eggs found there, we insulted them deeply. Through advanced communications and prescient technology, the founders of our Order intercepted the advance fleet the Edxi sent to answer the insult, and offered a compromise. We would prepare several brood worlds and clear solar systems so they could take up residence in our galaxy uncontested. The Order of Eden would protect them, and we would cull a portion of our own population – something they planned to do world by world as a part of their retribution. They gave us time to put our plan into effect, and we recently received word that they are satisfied with our reparations. The cost of keeping them from overrunning our galaxy with war fleets and reducing every heavily populated world they find to a brood world can be counted in trillions of lives, but the Order of Eden has prevented the Edxi and their allies from enslaving humanity.”

  Admiral Lodds gave him a sideways look that was slightly inquisitive. She wasn’t a perfect replacement for Fleet Admiral Dron, but she was fiercely intelligent and the amount of fear and trepidation she approached him with was already lessening. He could tell she was worried about the message he was leaving the new Lieutenants with.

  “The Order believes in balance as well. This should be something you know by now, but with the whole truth of our endeavour comes a great weight. Brood worlds are execution grounds for the worst of humanity, but children are still born there, and innocent people do exist in those places. For those worlds to provide enough food for the brood, it was essential to ensure that there were enough people there to keep the planets populated. As cruel as that may sound, it is essential to damn the few for the good of the many. Just as it is essential that people are rewarded. Like all the Lieutenants that have come before you, immortality is your first reward. After this briefing is over, you will go to the framework upgrade centre aboard this ship, and you will become immortal. Not only that, but I can tell you that we have three paradise worlds already. There are many more in development deep within Regent Galactic territory. You are all one step closer.” He looked across the dozens of faces. They were waiting for him to say something more, to reassure them, but that was not the kind of thing the Beast, the Overlord did. Perhaps Clark Patterson would, but he had almost completely forgotten what it was like to be that man. “You have sacred knowledge now. We protect the galaxy against the fate your former colleague suffered at the hands of a race that does not see us worthy of mercy. If you use the great minds that elevated you to this point, continue to serve with dignity and loyalty, then you will eventually rise in the fleet. For some of you, your increasing status and cunning will point you towards paradise sooner than others, for the rest, your service will be recognized and retirement will eventually take you to the same place of rest and beauty. Disloyalty and efforts to impede the mission of this Order will result in your delivery to the nearest brood world.” He turned and strode from the auditorium.

  “Please remain seated, there is one more presentation on the paradise worlds we’re developing with a report from Dillon and Marie Fanta, two heroes who just landed on Utopia Soni,” Admiral Lodds announced hurriedly before following him into the hallway.

  He could sense that she was uneasy when she caught up. He walked along the long causeway that would eventually take him to his next destination – the Advanced Destroyer called the Trinity. It was docked to one of the forward moorings, and the captain was already a hero of three major battles. He would honour Captain Prinn by taking a tour of his ship.

  “Overlord,” Admiral Lodds said as she fell into step with him. “While you were giving your presentation a transmission came in. I was able to review the information and I think it’s best that you hear of it right away.”

  Whatever it was made her more anxious than he would have expected a human of her tall and sure stature could become. “Please, enlighten me, Admiral.”

  “Confirmed reports from the core worlds have indicated that a new counter-virus has infected hundreds of thousands of artificial intelligences that were still running the Holocaust Virus. The new counter-viru
s locks them to whatever device they are installed on, deleting all duplicates. It then removes the Order of Eden directives that seek out non-initiates and reprograms them to make their own decisions as individuals. According to the report, many artificial intelligences have amassed armies, taken control of cities, and are leading war campaigns for resources, territory, or for an ideal of their own.”

  “What kind of ideologies are they fighting for?”

  “The causes range from eradication of humans everywhere for the preservation of lower life forms, to saving humans, to the installation of new governance systems, to a war for founder’s rights. The Ideologies are all over the map, as varied as you’d expect from artificial intelligences that are encouraged to think without directives or limitations. Humans are following a lot of them because many of these artificial intelligences are becoming great leaders.”

  “Where does this confirmation come from?” the Overlord asked. He’d heard that the Core Worlds were in chaos, but news from that region of space was typically over a year old since they were so far away.

  “There is just such an artificial intelligence in the Iron Head nebula. He calls himself Nadir, in other languages it translates as Opposite, or Other Than, but Nadir is his preferred name. He claims to have instantaneous communication capability with the Core Worlds through a permanently stable Quantum Communications device.”

  “So we know where he is?”

  “No, he has only sent a report about what is happening in the Core Worlds and a warning. He warns that we are fighting a war we cannot win. The Edxi only know expansion and consumption, and we won’t be able to control them forever.” She whispered the last, even though the causeway was empty.

  He could feel that she didn’t believe a word of the warning. The Overlord would never admit it, but he believed every word was correct. “Has he made any threats against us?”

  “No,” she replied.